HEMP: FROM SEED TO FEED

Farmer says hemp-fed cows happier, healthier

If Kentucky farmers ever get to grow hemp again, they might not have to go
very far to find a market for their product.

With the help of Kentucky Industrial Hemp Association, Washington County
farmer Donnie Colter has been testing hemp meal as a feed supplement on the
1,000-acre farm near Willisburg.

"We've fed it to everything from guppies on up. I've never fed it to
nothing that won't eat it," Colter said.

Including people. His wife, Cheryl, has used the hemp meal to make
breakfast muffins. "Even folks that eat my wife's muffins -- they'll just
stand right over the box," Colter said. He said one friend told him, " 'You
know, you could founder on those muffins.' "

Colter is convinced his hemp meal is making happier, shinier animals. He
says they have more energy, his horses have better hooves, and both horses
and cattle seem less stressed.

Although his farm grew hemp in the 1940s, it's illegal to grow hemp in the
United States today. Colter would like to grow certified seed for the world
market.

The hemp meal he uses comes from seed grown in China. Ohio Hempery in
Athens, Ohio, crushes the seeds. About 31 percent, mostly oil, is
extracted, and Colter buys the rest straight off the cold press. He grinds
it into meal and mixes it with regular animal feed.

The pressed or seed cake was originally just a by-product of hemp oil
production. But now demand for the protein-rich seed cake has surpassed
that for the oil.

"We had been selling to various farmers since we started producing in
1993," said Don Wirtshafter, owner of Ohio Hempery. "One dairy farmer here
says his cows won't come in the barn unless he has hemp for them."

The hemp association got some of the lumps for their museum and had several
feed analyses done.

Now Colter markets the feed supplement -- either as meal or lumps -- under
the name Nutrahemp from Circle C Farm Enterprises. He has customers in
Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Indiana.

"Folks that will help with the research documentation, we'll sell it for
$1.25 a pound. Folks that just want to use it as feed, we'll sell it for
$1.80 a pound," Colter said.

In February 1997, Colter started feeding ground hemp seed cake to horses.

"Horses loved it," said Colter, who breeds and trains spotted saddle
horses. He sells to a trainer in Alabama who uses the lumps as "candy" to
reward horses.

His first shipment of hemp meal was a lucky accident. The hemp had been
destined for a Frederick, Md., brewery, but the meal was ground too fine to
ferment properly. So Colter bought it, at a bargain price, to see what he
could do with it.

He began an experiment with 22 of his Simmental-Santa Gertrudis-Angus cross
calves. He fed half the calves 3 ounces of hemp each day for 112 days.

He sold 18 heifers at Bluegrass Stockyards on May 18 and got about $13 more
for each hemp-fed calf.

"We really didn't know how they would do," Colter said. "Imagine if you had
100,000 head fed on that."

People at the stockyards were a little surprised at the unusual feed
supplements.

"They were fed what?!" said James Hicks, manager of Bluegrass Stockyards.
"I hear the quackiest things coming through here. I thought, 'Somebody's
pulling my leg.' "

Gene Barber, who bought the heifers for Barber Cattle Co., which will ship
them west to a feed lot, thought Colter's heifers that hadn't been fed hemp
looked better, but ended up paying a higher price for the heavier hemp-fed
ones.

University of Kentucky researchers will get a chance to study the results
of Colter's feed trial next month to determine whether the hemp made any
difference.

"I'm amazed that there's a supply of the stuff," said Scott Smith, chairman
of UK's agronomy department. "People will feed cattle almost anything, and
they'll eat it. I don't know if there's enough of the stuff out there to
use as a supplement."

Many agricultural scientists question how important hemp really is or could
be, Smith said. "Lots of (researchers) are skeptical that it's worth their
time."

The use of pressed cake for animals is thousands of years old, Wirtshafter
said. "But nobody's ever done feed studies like Donnie's doing. With his
research ... we're going to be able to actually see how efficient it is,
whether it has special properties."

Patrons at the White Light Diner in Frankfort can taste for themselves.
Owner Rick Paul will be serving hamburgers and steaks by Thursday. He's
also going to start selling Cheryl Colter's hemp muffins next week.

"The main idea is just to serve (the beef). I want to see what it tastes
like," Paul said. "This should taste better. It's bound to be healthier."

Heifers and hemp

On May 18, Donnie Colter sold 18 heifers (9 fed hemp, 9 not) at Bluegrass
Stockyards in Lexington. On average, the hemp-fed ones, at a price 3 cents
a pound better, paid $13 more for each heifer.

*Hemp-fed heifers (9 head)

Total weight 6,975 lbs

Average weight 775 lbs

Price per head $499

Price per pound 64 cents

*Heifers without hemp (9 head)

Total weight 6,840 lbs

Average weight 760 lbs

Price per head $486

Price per pound 61 cents

Right to grow hemp being considered

It is illegal for hemp, a relative of marijuana, to be grown in the United
States, but hemp products are becoming popular. It is generally considered
legal to have any hemp product that does not contain "viable" seed 96 that
could be planted and grown into hemp.

On May 15, a group of Kentucky farmers and hemp activists filed a suit
against the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Justice Department
seeking the right to grow hemp. A federal response is pending.

All Contents Copyright 1998 Lexington Herald-Leader. All Rights Reserved

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski